Balanced diet

Eat a variety of different foods to make sure your diet is balanced

Eating a healthy mixture of foods doesn’t mean that you have to buy exotic or expensive food to add variety to your diet. Cheap seasonal and traditional food is just as good. So when shopping, make sure to buy lots of fruit and vegetables, potatoes, rice and starches, fish, meat, eggs, beans and some dairy products. That’s all it takes to have a healthy balanced diet!

Check out the food groups below, they contain all the nutrition you need to stay fit, healthy and looking good! Don't forget to try and eat different foods every day and to be brave when trying new food. Use the food pyramid to plan your healthy food choices every day and watch your portion size.

Bread, potatoes and cereals

These are cheap and cheerful. This food group gives your body most of its energy and you need the fibre to make sure you don’t get constipated! They also give us some vitamins and minerals.

Foods included in this group include breakfast cereals, all breads and rolls, potatoes, noodles, pasta, rice and couscous.

Try to get at least six or more portions of these every day. A portion can be a bowl of cereal (avoid the sugary types), a slice of bread or a medium sized potato.

Potatoes are cheap, easy to cook, have no fat and lots of fibre and Vitamin C. So stock up on spuds!

Choose high in fibre foods such as wholemeal bread or brown rice instead of white bread or rice.

Fruit and vegetables

You’ve been hearing it all your life: eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. This food group gives your body vitamins, minerals and fibre.

A portion can be a bowl of salad, a side plate full of carrots, peas or tomatoes, a small glass of fruit juice, an apple, an orange or a handful of grapes. So, packing in at least five portions a day shouldn't be so difficult!

Get into the habit of eating at least one portion of fruit or vegetables with every meal.

You need a variety of fruit and vegetables, so add different colours to your dinner plate or lunch.

You can have fresh, frozen, tinned or dried fruit and veg. Try to make sure that no salt or sugar has been added. Homemade vegetable soups and pasta sauces also count.

It’s terrible but potatoes don’t count as one of your vegetable portions. They are classified as a carbohydrate food like bread and rice.
You can’t survive on vitamin tablets: fruit and vegetables are full of fibre, they're an essential part of our diet.